New Nukes
The UK is evaluating an expansion of nuclear energy beyond existing new build plans of 16GW; potentially up to 75GW by 2050, which would have a major impact on Spent Fuel storage capacity.
Nuclear Energy Insider 4th July 2013 read more »
The UK can still complete construction on new nuclear power plants fast enough to have them running by 2020, energy secretary Ed Davey, has said. The government had planned to have the UKs first wave of nuclear power plants in decades coming on line in 2017 but the timetable has slipped as the programme has been hit with multiple delays. Speaking before the House of Commons Energy and Climate Change Committee on Tuesday, Davey rejected speculation that there would now be no new nuclear power until 2023.
Building 4th July 2013 read more »
Energy Costs
Households face an extra £1.90 a year on their electricity bills under government plans to exempt heavy industry from paying new subsidies for wind farms, solar parks and biomass plants. Manufacturers have claimed that the cost of these renewable energy subsidies, which come into force in 2017, threaten to make them uncompetitive globally and put them out of business. Under plans put forward by the business department yesterday, heavy industries employing 150,000 people — mainly in the North East and South Wales — will be partially exempted.
Times 5th July 2013 read more »
As part of the introduction of the Energy Bill, government is seeking to exempt energy intensive industries from the costs of Contracts for Difference (CfDs). CfDs are part of Electricity Market Reform (EMR). CfDs aim to support investment in low carbon electricity generation.
BIS 4th July 2013 read more »
Emergency Planning
The headline is stark, the picture is sinister and the story is scary. It screamed: Nuke dust disaster. Two feared dead and hundreds at risk as deadly cloud descends. But it was no ordinary newspaper. It came from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) trying to imagine how the media would handle one of its worst nightmares – a motorway pile-up involving the convoy that regularly carts Britain’s Trident nuclear warheads up and down the country.
Guardian 4th July 2013 read more »
Sellafield
A recent visit from a local radio station to the Sellafield site has given its listeners a greater insight into the work that’s been undertaken at Sellafield Ltd and the challenges that it faces. BBC Radio Cumbria broadcast live from outside the site following a media visit which included an extensive tour of the Pile Fuel Cladding Silo, the Pile Fuel Storage Pond and the newly constructed Sludge Packaging plant, which will enable retrievals to begin in the First Generation Magnox Storage Pond.
Sellafield Ltd 4th July 2013 read more »
Sellafield’s 10,000 workers will get a 2.9 pay rise with no strings attached. Members of all three nuclear unions – GMB, Unite and Prospect – overwhelmingly accepted the increase when ballot results were released this week.
Whitehaven News 4th July 2013 read more »
Heysham
This month we have a series of anniversaries to celebrate; it is 30 years since Heysham 1 started generating and 25 years since Heysham 2 commenced generation. Over the years Heysham 1 and 2 have provided many highly skilled jobs for the constituency and have provided huge boosts for the economy as well as training our young people through a comprehensive apprenticeship programme. Almost everyone I speak to either works at the power station or knows someone who does. I am the chairman of the Conservative Friends of Nuclear Power and behind the scenes I meet with ministers to discuss how we can develop nuclear energy in the UK and more specifically Morecambe & Lunesdale.
Lancaster Guardian 4th July 2013 read more »
Press
How well does press regulation take care of inaccurate coverage of climate science and energy issues in the media? Carbon Brief takes a look at what governs whether complaints are won or lost.
Carbon Brief 4th July 2013 read more »
Finland
Fennovoima could sign a contract for the Hanhikivi nuclear power plant in Finland by the end of this year, perhaps with Russian equity of 34%. Project developer Fennovoima announced today that “from now on” it would “concentrate on negotiating only with Rusatom Overseas” – the subsidiary of Russia’s Rosatom state nuclear corporation concerned with exports of nuclear power plants. Areva and Toshiba designs had also been under consideration at earlier stages of the bidding process, with Toshiba invited to direct negotiations in February this year. Nevertheless, Fennovoima and Rusatom Overseas today announced they have agreed to develop the new plant project to the point that a contract to build could be signed.
World Nuclear News 3rd July 2013 read more »
Construction Index 4th July 2013 read more »
France
Electricite de France SA must improve safety at its 58 nuclear plants in the nation including ensuring spent fuel storage and reactor vessels are secure before it can win the regulator’s approval to operate them beyond 40 years. “EDF must propose ambitious improvements for the safety of spent fuel storage” and be prepared to replace equipment on a large scale, Autorite de Surete Nucleaire said in a statement.
Bloomberg 3rd July 2013 read more »
US
Letter: Your editorial “US nuclear policy” (June 24) rightly concludes that sensible policy requires “rational assessments of the risks”. Unfortunately, Sylvia Pfeifer’s follow-up article “Clean-up quandary” (Analysis, July 2) fails to separate fact from hyperbole on used nuclear fuel, all of which to date, stacked less than 10 metres high, would fit on a single football pitch. The FT agrees that nuclear power is likely to be key to addressing the potentially runaway damages of climate change; a more careful discussion of nuclear’s real but manageable environmental challenges would therefore be helpful.
FT 4th July 2013 read more »
Japan
Fukushima Crisis Update 2nd to 3rd July. Despite vocal local opposition to nuclear power, TEPCO announced this week that it would submit an application to Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) as early as Monday to restart reactors #6 and #7 at its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa power plant in Niigata Prefecture.
Greenpeace 4th July 2013 read more »
Saudi Arabia
Utility GDF Suez would consider a role in an expected French bid to build a nuclear-reactor project in Saudi Arabia, CEO Gerald Mestrallet said in an interview with business daily Les Echos published on Friday.
Reuters 5th July 2013 read more »
Renewables
Offshore wind has a big cost for energy billpayers. It currently costs almost three times the market price of power of about £50 per megawatt hour (MWh); if energy policy was decided by price alone, London Array would not have been built. But ministers have backed a major expansion of offshore wind to help Britain meet its green targets. From 3.3GW of installed capacity now, they want to see as much as 16GW by 2020. High subsidies refect the fact offshore wind is a “young” technology compared with, say, nuclear. “Our aim is to bring our cost down to parity with other technologies as fast and efficiently as possible,” he says. “Building the world’s biggest offshore wind farm is a very important step in taking us to the scale that will enable us to drive the cost down.” Ministers want costs reduced to £100/MWh by 2020. An industrial strategy on the issue is expected soon. This is also intended to help ensure that a bigger share of the costs of future wind farms – as much as 50pc – is spent in the UK. For London Array, it was just 10pc; most of the parts were shipped in from elsewhere in Europe. DONG believes it can undercut the 2020 target and reach £85/MWh. Part of the answer is scale: bigger turbines and bigger wind farms.
Telegraph 5th July 2013 read more »
The excitement of having the prime minister at the world’s largest operating offshore wind farm meant there were preparations to take him out in a boat to inspect some of the 175 turbines, each taller than the London Eye big wheel and costing about €4m. In the end, he was whisked overhead in a helicopter instead, so he could get back to London for another event in a day of big infrastructure projects. This is typical of the UK’s odd position at the centre of the international offshore wind industry; it has more installed capacity than the rest of the world combined, but only a relatively small number of domestic builders of the farms. There are only 12,000 people employed in the UK industry, which is still dominated by an onshore market with nearly twice the capacity of the much-newer offshore business.
FT 4th July 2013 read more »
The world’s biggest offshore wind farm has been inaugurated by the Prime Minister during a visit to Margate. The 175 giant turbines of the London Array rise from the outer Thames Estuary between the coasts of Kent and Essex and can generate enough energy to power nearly half a million homes.
Sky 4th July 2013 read more »
Guardian 4th July 2013 read more »
Since launching last October, the 29 schools taking part in Solar Schools this year have collectively raised over £140,000. With the end of term now just weeks away, they’re hoping to stump up several thousand more, allowing them to install solar panels over the summer. Each school taking part uses an innovative combination of online and offline fundraising techniques to hit ambitious targets, while at the same time bringing their whole community together to learn about energy and climate change in a totally new way. This Friday, three of those schools are hosting sponsored events in tandem. From whole schools of skipping students to handfuls of silent teenagers, the pupils will be challenging themselves to do their bit to help their school tackle climate change.
Solar Schools 4th July 2013 read more »
Biomass
Britain’s energy crisis has deepened as German-owned power giant RWE npower scrapped plans for a new biomass plant, blaming a lack of “clarity” from the Government. In February, Npower chief executive Paul Massara warned Government the company would have to significantly scale back its investment in Britain unless the Government provided “desperately needed” certainty over energy policy. He told the Sunday Telegraph: “I doubt that we will be investing the kind of money we have been investing unless there are propositions which attract not only us but also enable other capital lenders to come into the market place.”
Telegraph 5th July 2013 read more »
Fossil Fuels
Half of Britain’s biggest energy companies are planning to drill in the Arctic, according to environmental campaigners.
Telegraph 4th July 2013 read more »
Climate
The world is finding it very challenging to agree a way to stop global average temperatures rising more than 2°C above their pre-industrial level. But researchers in Switzerland say far more radical measures are needed anyway. When we consider all targets jointly, CO2 emissions have to be cut twice as much as if we only want to meet the two degree target.
Climate News Network 4th July 2013 read more »
